Education funding agreement unlikely

Victorian Education Minister Martin Dixon said there was only a slim chance a schools funding model could be agreed upon in time for the April meeting of the Coalition of Australian Governments.
Photo: Penny Stephens

A month before an April deadline set by Prime Minister
Julia Gillard
for the states to agree on school funding, the plan still lacked detail, Victorian Education Minister
Martin Dixon
told state Parliament.

He said there was only a slim chance a funding model could be agreed upon in time for the April meeting of the Coalition of Australian Governments, which is when Ms Gillard promised a deal. “How is the supposed biggest change to funding in decades going to happen in 3½ weeks with negotiations yet to start?" he asked.

“It is either just not going to happen in that time or it is going to be a steamroller."

The Victorian government has proposed a rival plan for school funding.

An extra $6.5 billion in investment is required for the federal government’s “Gonski" model, which would allocate a base amount per student, and loadings for schools and students facing educational disadvantage.

It includes extra funding for disabled students no matter what type of school they attend and a “pupil premium" for disadvantaged students.